"That is incorrect. The president is in Cape Town
preparing for the budget vote of the presidency," he said.

On Saturday, the presidency announced that Mandela had
been admitted to hospital in the early hours of the morning.

On Monday, the presidency said his condition was
unchanged, and that he was receiving intensive care.

Security at the hospital, in Arcadia, was tightened, with
police officers manning its two entrances.

Police spokesperson Phuti Setati earlier said the police
at the hospital were part of the presidential protection services team, whose
task included protecting former presidents.

He did not specifically confirm that Mandela was in the
hospital.

Well-wishers

Local and international media have camped outside the
facility, and at Mandela's Houghton, Johannesburg, home since Saturday.

People continued leaving messages of support outside his
home on Tuesday.

A couple wearing T-shirts bearing the words "We love
you Papa Mandela" and "We love you Papa Madiba" placed a teddy
bear in a similar T-shirt at one of the sunken pot plants, where others had
left messages of support on stones.

A boy in school uniform hopped out of a car opposite the
house's gate to leave a large red envelope filled with letters, wishing Madiba
the best, from a Grade Five class at the King Edward VII Preparatory School.

On Tuesday morning, a group of children from the Rainbow
Hill Christian School in Orange Grove arrived at the house and sang "Get
well Tata Mandela, get well".

This is the third time this year the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate has been hospitalised.

At the end of March and in April, he spent nine days in
hospital receiving treatment for recurring lung problems.

Earlier in March, he was admitted to a Pretoria hospital
for a scheduled check-up and was discharged the following day.

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